Diaspora Music

Meet the band

John Monaghan

Although John was born in England in 1954, he was of the first generation in his family born outside Ireland. This strong connection to the Green Isle arose from a traditional upbringing surrounded by music, mad people and masses of the black stuff, all in a close Irish community. John founded the band Diaspora in 1995 as a temporary band to raise funds for a cousin with a mental handicap. This so-called temporary band has been going strong for over 13 years now. John is the lead singer -- he plays the bodhran and percussion. He has sung with Barney McCann of the Dubliners.

Robert Colledge

Robert's maternal family hails from County Meath, Ireland, and he is a passionate traditional Irish and British folk music fan. He owns a number of acoustic 6 - and 12 - string guitars, mandolin, ukulele and bouzouki, and even plays some of them...He also sings and arranges some of the band's material.

Kevin Chamberlain

Kevin sings and plays guitar, harmonica and percussion. He has, in his own words played as a semiprofessional musician "since nineteen hundred and frozen to death", having started by playing blues harmonica because they were the cheapest instruments in the band. Find out more about Kevin by following the linkhttp://www.kchamberlainandco.com

Chris Dunne

Chris was born, as he says, at a very early age in Liverpool, not very long after the war. Living with an eccentric grandfather who was also an inventor, influenced his interests in outlook on life. Although music didn't feature particularly prominently until his teens, he purchased a ukulele and later an acoustic guitar in Spain. After moving to the West Country he enjoyed "the good life", growing vegetables, brewing beer, wine making, beekeeping etc. Chris sings and plays the banjo, guitar and (another) ukulele with the band.

Danny Drake

Danny sings, plays bass, fiddle, whistle and mandolin. He's an expert with electronics and sound gear and an experienced guitar technician. He's been playing guitar since age 13, with classical training, and made his first electric guitar at age 16 and played it for 20 years in rock bands.